Learning How to Code Switch

The United States consists of great cultural variety and no one should be discriminated against for speaking a certain way.

Code-switching keeps people from expressing themselves by promoting one correct style of communication.

It is important to recognize that code-switching can help a person succeed and celebrate all aspects of their identity.

Many successful people have used code-switching, but it is unfair to expect minorities to have multiple communication styles.

“‘You sound like them white boys you go to school with, you know that?’ my friends would say, with a tone parked somewhere between amused disdain and outright disgust.” (Paragraph 5)

“As more cultures join America’s melting pot, that’s why code-switching remains so valuable.” (Paragraph 26)

“Carlson concluded in a segment on Hannity’s program last October, presenting Obama’s altered speech as evidence of pandering.” (Paragraph 11)

“I learned early on, thanks to that g-word nonsense, that expertly navigating another culture wasn’t a rejection of where I’d come from or a signal that I was any less authentically black.” (Paragraph 23)

Changing communication styles can make a person feel isolated from belonging to any one culture.

A person’s success in social interactions is influenced by how they choose to communicate with others.

People choose their primary communication style based on the group to which they most want to belong.

Not adhering to the dominant communication style in a group will most likely result in social rejection.

“That word — ‘guys’— might earn smiles and nods of understanding in that world, but it brought the ultimate insult in my neighborhood.” (Paragraph 5)

“Painful as some of these experiences were, I was grateful to have them in middle school and high school, so that when the time came to head for college, I already had some fluency navigating between different cultures” (Paragraph 19)

“With one boy in particular, my mother had to sit me down and explain: ‘Son, perhaps there’s another reason why his parents keep making excuses for why we can’t get together.’” (Paragraph 18)

“I watched as too many others from my hometown and other predominantly black cities struggled in a university setting where suddenly they really were a minority.” (Paragraph 20)

To highly respect or regard

The act of studying or observing another culture

The process by which a person gains the social characteristics of a group

To be unique or special

Bitterness

Understanding

Affection

Humor

Displaying

Observing

Remembering clearly

Celebrating